- Thread Starter
- #41
That's how I always handled it until I got whacked with a 15th dan -- never listed my actual rank on my website. The only reason that changed is because I got "outed" by someone on a couple of martial-art forums before I even got back from Japan, so there was no longer any point. . .
Is it "advertising" or just placing information about themselves on their website?
If it is meaningful to a person that her/his teacher believes that s/he has achieved a level of improvement over numerous previous such evaluation times, then is is "bad" for that person to show publicly that the assessment is meaningful?
It was very meaningful to *MY TEACHER* (and thusly me) when Soke first ranked me. The rank told my teacher that his own assessments were generally correct and that he was teaching in a way that even Soke recognized as providing a field for growing.
Certainly, most people would agree that the assessment of certain people can be more meaningful than the assessment of other people. It means a lot to me when Mr. ABC provides me with a positive assessment of my accomplishments than when Mr. ZYX does.
I wouldn't consider that "advertising," personally, but maybe you would....
Perhaps, they do. Perhaps, they don't.
Perhaps just the ones that have websites do....
I know quite a few Shidoshi who have no website and do not display their ranks. I know many, many Shidoshi who share my perspective that any student who wants to train with them solely because of the size of their number on their certificate should be swiftly shown to the door. Many Shidoshi go through tremendous pains to only let the "right students" stick around. I include Soke in this grouping as well.
I would argue that a high percentage of Shidoshi do *NOT* even have a website, but that's just my opinion based on nothing more than my own personal rolodex of people I know and how darn difficult it is to find them when my batteries go dead on my Palm. LOL!
As to your question about naivety, this is why it is very important for people to train regularly in Japan. People need to get knocked around a bit for asking stupid question and thinking stupid things. Over time, their views start to change.
Granted, it sounds like a lot of you folks here are concerned with these darn trips to Japan and how people come back with ranks. LOL! (shake head)
Like I said, get exposure to the "right people" and all these petty questions just seem to disappear.
-ben
This thread is very, very, very interesting and so far entertaining and enlightening.
![icon10.gif](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.martialtalk.com%2Fforum%2Fimages%2Ficons%2Ficon10.gif&hash=56504f3e49e16818357df7b73670971c)